38|No sleep

Valerie pov

I hadn’t slept a wink all night.

The king’s words kept replaying in my mind like a haunting echo, keeping me wide awake. Now, with the sun risen and my eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, I heard his voice for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Two choices. The pain of rejection is severe, and you will lose your life to it— just from the pain alone. So you can either be rejected when